JP2011107324A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make unnecessary to visually observe an insertion situation of each pin to be inserted into each positioning hole. <P>SOLUTION: When the pin 308 is not inserted into the positioning hole 306 and comes into contact with the bottom plate 304A of a second housing 304 in placing the second housing 304 on the top surface 302A of a first housing 302, the bottom plate 304A to which a contact pressure is applied from the pin 308 is elastically deformed upwards, and the peripheral edge part 318 of the bottom plate 304A maintains its attitude along the top surface 302A of the first housing 302. Thereby, the state, in which the second housing 304 is slidable and movable along the top surface 302A, is maintained. Accordingly, even when the pin 308 is not always inserted into the positioning hole 306, by furthermore making the second housing 304 slide and move relative to the first housing 302, the pin 308 can be inserted into the positioning hole 306, thereby, it is unnecessary to visually observe the insertion situation of the pin 308 to be inserted into the positioning hole 306. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus, an image recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 and an image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 are known. In the image recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a receiving portion 51a and a positioning portion 51b are provided on an upper surface 12a of a multi-stage sheet housing case 12 in a laser printer, and a guide portion 51c for communicating them is provided. The leg holding part 51 is formed. A similar leg holder 51 is also provided on the upper surface 11 a of the sheet housing case 11. When the sheet storage case 11 is placed on the multi-stage sheet storage case 12, the sheet storage case 11 is first received by the receiving portion 51a, and then roughly positioned. The sheet storage case 11 is moved in the horizontal direction and guided by the guide part 51c from the receiving part 51a to the positioning part 51b, so that the sheet storage case 11 is accurately positioned. Similarly, the main body housing 10 is also placed and positioned on the sheet storage housing 11.

  In the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, when an additional unit such as a paper feeding unit is combined with the main body of the image forming apparatus having one function, the lower unit 5 has a long and short pin member at the top. 6 and 7 are arranged in a protruding manner, and a round hole 3 and a long hole 4 are arranged in the upper unit 2. Then, the round hole 3 is first engaged with the long pin 6 and then the long hole 4 is combined with the short pin 7 so that the assembling work can be easily performed.

JP-A-6-271108 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-332127 (FIG. 2)

  An object of the present invention is to facilitate mounting work when mounting the second casing on the upper surface of the first casing.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a first housing, a second housing placed on an upper surface of the first housing and containing a circuit board, and a protrusion protruding upward from the upper surface of the first housing. And a bottom plate of the housing having a length in one direction, the projecting portion can be inserted, the positioning portion on one end side in the length direction comes into contact with the projecting portion, and the second A positioning hole for positioning the second casing with respect to the first casing by restricting movement of the casing, and the protrusion contacts the bottom plate without being inserted into the positioning hole. In this case, the image forming apparatus is configured such that the bottom plate is elastically deformed upward and the peripheral edge portion of the bottom plate is maintained at a height along the upper surface of the second casing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the second casing moves the upper surface of the first casing in the length direction of the positioning hole so that the protruding portion inserted into the positioning hole moves relative to the positioning portion. And the positioning of the second casing is performed by the positioning hole, and the protrusion is formed on the upper surface of the first casing from the center in the direction along the moving direction of the second casing. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is formed upstream of the moving direction.

  According to the structure of Claim 1 of this invention, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, the mounting operation | work at the time of mounting a 2nd housing | casing on the upper surface of a 1st housing | casing can be made easy.

  According to the structure of Claim 2 of this invention, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, the mounting operation | work at the time of mounting a 2nd housing | casing on the upper surface of a 1st housing | casing can be made easy.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming unit according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the second processing apparatus according to this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the first housing of the second processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is packaged. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the power supply device of the second processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is packaged. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a packing state when the second processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is shipped. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the power supply device according to the present embodiment is mounted on the second processing apparatus. FIG. 9 is a perspective view when viewed from the opposite direction to FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a lift for lifting the power supply device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a positioning structure according to this embodiment. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state where the power supply device is positioned in the positioning structure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a positioning structure according to this embodiment. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the pins constituting the positioning structure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the power supply device according to the present embodiment is mounted with being shifted from the first housing. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where the pin according to the present embodiment contacts the bottom plate of the second housing without being inserted into the positioning hole. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where the second housing is tilted with respect to the upper surface of the first housing when the pin contacts the bottom plate of the second housing without being inserted into the positioning hole.

Below, an example of an embodiment concerning the present invention is described based on a drawing.
(Configuration of image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment)
First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment forms a full-color image or a black-and-white image. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a first process arranged on one side in the horizontal direction (left side in FIG. 1). An apparatus 10A and a second processing apparatus 10B disposed on the other side in the horizontal direction (right side in FIG. 1) are provided. The first processing device 10A and the second processing device 10B are connected so as to be splittable.

  An image processing board 13 that performs image processing on image data sent from an external device such as a computer is provided above the second processing apparatus 10B. Specifically, the image processing board 13 is accommodated in a second casing 304 of a power supply device 303 that constitutes an upper portion of the second processing apparatus 10B, as will be described later.

  On the other hand, the first special color (V), second special color (W), yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner are provided above the first processing apparatus 10A. Toner cartridges 14V, 14W, 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K are provided so as to be replaceable along the horizontal direction.

  The first special color and the second special color are appropriately selected from colors other than yellow, magenta, cyan, and black (including transparency). In the following description, the first special color (V), the second special color (W), yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) are distinguished for each component. Is described by adding any one of V, W, Y, M, C, and K after the reference numeral, and the first special color (V), the second special color (W), yellow (Y), and magenta (M ), Cyan (C), and black (K) are not distinguished, V, W, Y, M, C, and K are omitted.

  Under the toner cartridge 14, six image forming units 16 (an example of image forming units) corresponding to the toners of the respective colors are provided along the horizontal direction so as to correspond to the toner cartridges 14. . An exposure unit 40 is provided between each toner cartridge 14 and the image forming unit 16.

  The exposure unit 40 provided for each image forming unit 16 receives the image data subjected to the image processing by the image processing board 13 from the image processing board 13, and the exposure light L (FIG. 5) modulated according to the image data. 3) is applied to a photoconductor 18 (see FIG. 3) described later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each image forming unit 16 includes a photoconductor 18 that is rotationally driven in one direction (clockwise direction in FIG. 3). By exposing the exposure light L from each exposure unit 40 to each photoconductor 18, an electrostatic latent image is formed on each photoconductor 18.

  Around each photoconductor 18, a corona discharge (non-contact charging) scorotron charger 20 as an example of a charging device for charging the photoconductor 18 and an electrostatic unit formed on the photoconductor 18 by an exposure unit 40. The developing device 22 that develops the latent image with the developer, the blade 24 as a removing member that removes the developer remaining on the photoconductor 18 after transfer, and the static electricity is discharged by irradiating the photoconductor 18 with light. A static eliminator 26 is provided.

  The scorotron charger 20, the developing device 22, the blade 24, and the charge removal device 26 are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photoconductor 18 so as to face the surface of the photoconductor 18.

  The developing device 22 includes a developer accommodating member 22A that accommodates a developer G containing toner, and a developing roll 22B that supplies the developer G accommodated in the developer accommodating member 22A to the photoconductor 18. Yes. The developer accommodating member 22A is connected to the toner cartridge 14 (see FIG. 1) through a toner supply path (not shown), and the toner is supplied from the toner cartridge 14.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a transfer unit 32 is provided below each image forming unit 16. The transfer unit 32 includes an annular intermediate transfer belt 34 that contacts each photoconductor 18, and a primary transfer roll 36 as a primary transfer member that multiplex-transfers the toner image formed on each photoconductor 18 to the intermediate transfer belt 34. It is configured to include.

  The intermediate transfer belt 34 includes a drive roll 38 driven by a motor (not shown), a tension applying roll 41 that applies tension to the intermediate transfer belt 34, a counter roll 42 that faces a secondary transfer roll 62 described later, and a plurality of rolls. It is wound around the winding roll 44 and is driven to circulate in one direction (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1) by the drive roll 38.

  Each primary transfer roll 36 is disposed opposite to the photoreceptor 18 of each image forming unit 16 with the intermediate transfer belt 34 interposed therebetween. The primary transfer roll 36 is applied with a transfer bias voltage having a polarity opposite to the toner polarity by a power supply unit (not shown). With this configuration, the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 18 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 34.

  On the opposite side of the drive roll 38 with the intermediate transfer belt 34 interposed therebetween, a removing device 46 is provided for removing residual toner, paper dust and the like on the intermediate transfer belt 34 by bringing the blade into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 34. .

  Below the transfer unit 32, two recording medium storage units 48 for storing recording media such as paper are provided along the horizontal direction.

  Each recording medium accommodating portion 48 can be pulled out from the first processing apparatus 10A. Above one end side (the right side in FIG. 1) of each recording medium container 48, a delivery roll 52 that sends the recording medium P from each recording medium container 48 to the transport path 60 is provided.

  In each recording medium accommodating portion 48, a bottom plate 50 on which the recording medium P is placed is provided. The bottom plate 50 is lowered by an instruction from a control means (not shown) when the recording medium accommodating portion 48 is pulled out from the first processing apparatus 10A. When the bottom plate 50 is lowered, a space in which the user replenishes the recording medium P is formed in the recording medium accommodating portion 48.

  When the recording medium container 48 pulled out from the first processing apparatus 10A is attached to the first processing apparatus 10A, the bottom plate 50 is raised by an instruction from the control means. As the bottom plate 50 moves up, the uppermost recording medium P placed on the bottom plate 50 and the delivery roll 52 come into contact with each other.

  On the downstream side in the recording medium conveyance direction of the sending roll 52 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “downstream side”), a separation roll 56 that separates the recording media P sent from the recording medium accommodating portion 48 one by one. Is provided. A plurality of transport rolls 54 that transport the recording medium P downstream in the transport direction are provided on the downstream side of the separation roll 56.

  The conveyance path 60 provided between the recording medium storage unit 48 and the transfer unit 32 is configured to fold the recording medium P sent out from the recording medium storage unit 48 to the left side in FIG. The folding portion 60B extends to the transfer position T between the secondary transfer roll 62 and the opposing roll 42 so as to be folded back to the right side in FIG.

  The secondary transfer roll 62 is applied with a transfer bias voltage having a polarity opposite to the toner polarity by a power feeding unit (not shown). With this configuration, the toner images of each color that have been multiplex-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 34 are secondarily transferred onto the recording medium P that has been transported along the transport path 60 by the secondary transfer roll 62.

  A preliminary path 66 extending from the side surface of the first processing apparatus 10 </ b> A is provided so as to join the second folding portion 60 </ b> B of the transport path 60. A recording medium P sent out from a recording medium storage unit (not shown) arranged adjacent to the first processing apparatus 10 </ b> A enters the transport path 60 through the spare path 66.

  On the downstream side of the transfer position T, a plurality of conveying belts 70 that convey the recording medium P on which the toner image has been transferred toward the second processing apparatus 10B are provided in the first processing apparatus 10A and are conveyed to the conveying belt 70. A conveying belt 80 that conveys the recording medium P to the downstream side is provided in the second processing apparatus 10B.

  Each of the plurality of conveyance belts 70 and the conveyance belt 80 is formed in an annular shape and is wound around a pair of winding rolls 72. The pair of winding rolls 72 are respectively arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium P, and when one of them is driven to rotate, the conveyance belt 70 (conveyance belt 80) moves in one direction (in FIG. 1). Cycle in the clockwise direction.

  A fixing unit 82 for fixing the toner image transferred onto the surface of the recording medium P to the recording medium P with heat and pressure is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance belt 80.

  The fixing unit 82 includes a fixing belt 84 and a pressure roll 88 disposed so as to contact the fixing belt 84 from below. A fixing unit N is formed between the fixing belt 84 and the pressure roll 88 to fix the toner image by pressurizing and heating the recording medium P.

  The fixing belt 84 is formed in an annular shape and is wound around the drive roll 89 and the driven roll 90. The drive roll 89 faces the pressure roll 88 from above, and the driven roll 90 is disposed above the drive roll 89.

  Each of the driving roll 89 and the driven roll 90 includes a heating unit such as a halogen heater. As a result, the fixing belt 84 is heated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, on the downstream side of the fixing unit 82, a conveyance belt 108 for conveying the recording medium P sent out from the fixing unit 82 to the downstream side is provided. The conveyor belt 108 is formed in the same manner as the conveyor belt 70.

  A cooling unit 110 that cools the recording medium P heated by the fixing unit 82 is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance belt 108.

  The cooling unit 110 includes an absorption device 112 that absorbs the heat of the recording medium P, and a pressing device 114 that presses the recording medium P against the absorption device 112. The absorption device 112 is disposed on one side (upper side in FIG. 1) with respect to the conveyance path 60, and the pressing device 114 is disposed on the other side (lower side in FIG. 1).

  The absorption device 112 includes an annular absorption belt 116 that contacts the recording medium P and absorbs the heat of the recording medium P. The absorption belt 116 is wound around a driving roll 120 that transmits a driving force to the absorption belt 116 and a plurality of winding rolls 118.

  A heat sink 122 made of an aluminum material that dissipates heat absorbed by the absorption belt 116 by contacting the absorption belt 116 in a planar shape is provided on the inner peripheral side of the absorption belt 116.

  Further, a fan 128 for removing heat from the heat sink 122 and discharging hot air to the outside is disposed on the back side (the back side of the paper surface shown in FIG. 1) of the second processing apparatus 10B.

  The pressing device 114 that presses the recording medium P against the absorbing device 112 includes an annular pressing belt 130 that conveys the recording medium P while pressing the recording medium P against the absorbing belt 116. The pressing belt 130 is wound around a plurality of winding rolls 132.

  On the downstream side of the cooling unit 110, there is provided a correction device 140 that conveys the recording medium P and corrects the curl of the recording medium P.

  A detection device 180 that detects a toner density defect, an image defect, an image position defect, and the like of the toner image fixed on the recording medium P is provided on the downstream side of the correction device 140.

  The detection device 180 detects the reflected light emitted from the light source to the recording medium P and reflected upward by the recording medium P by a detection element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, thereby causing a toner density defect and an image defect. Image position defects and the like are detected.

  On the downstream side of the detection device 180, a discharge roll 198 that discharges the recording medium P on which an image is formed on one side to a discharge unit 196 attached to the side surface of the second processing device 10B is provided.

  On the other hand, when images are formed on both sides, the recording medium P sent from the detection device 180 is conveyed to the reversing path 202 provided on the downstream side of the detection device 180.

  The reversing path 202 includes a branch path 202A that branches from the transport path 60, a paper transport path 202B that transports the recording medium P transported along the branch path 202A toward the first processing apparatus 10A, and a paper transport path. A reversing path 202C is provided in which the recording medium P transported along 202B is folded back in the reverse direction and transported in a switchback manner so that the front and back surfaces are reversed.

  With this configuration, the recording medium P switched back and conveyed by the reversing path 202C is conveyed toward the first processing apparatus 10A, and further enters the conveyance path 60 provided above the recording medium container 48, and is transferred to the transfer position. It is sent to T again.

  Next, an image forming process of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

  Image data that has undergone image processing on the image processing substrate 13 is sent to each exposure unit 40. In each exposure unit 40, each exposure light L is emitted according to the image data and exposed to each photoconductor 18 charged by the scorotron charger 20, and an electrostatic latent image is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 18 is developed by the developing device 22, and the first special color (V), the second special color (W), yellow (Y), magenta ( M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoreceptors 28 of the image forming units 16V, 16W, 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K have six primary transfer rolls 36V, 36W, 36Y, 36M, and 36C. , 36K, and sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 34.

  The toner images of the respective colors that have been multiplex-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 34 are secondarily transferred onto the recording medium P conveyed from the recording medium accommodating portion 48 by the secondary transfer roll 62. The recording medium P onto which the toner image has been transferred is transported toward the fixing unit 82 provided inside the second processing apparatus 10B by the transport belt 70.

  The toner images of the respective colors on the recording medium P are fixed on the recording medium P by being heated and pressurized by the fixing unit 82. Further, the recording medium P on which the toner image is fixed is cooled by passing through the cooling unit 110 and then sent to the correction device 140 to correct the curvature generated in the recording medium P.

  The recording medium P whose curvature is corrected is discharged to the discharge unit 196 by the discharge roll 198 after an image defect or the like is detected by the detection device 180.

  On the other hand, when an image is formed on a non-image surface where no image is formed (in the case of double-sided printing), after passing through the detection device 180, the recording medium P is reversed by the reversing path 202 and above the recording medium container 48. And a toner image is formed on the back surface according to the above-described procedure.

  In the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, components for forming images of the first special color and the second special color (image forming units 16V and 16W, exposure units 40V and 40W, toner cartridges 14V and 14W, The primary transfer rolls 36V and 36W) are configured to be attachable to the first processing apparatus 10A as additional parts according to the user's selection. Accordingly, the image forming apparatus 10 does not include a part for forming the first special color and second special color images, and the image of any one of the first special color and the second special color. It is good also as a structure which has only the components for forming.

(Configuration of the second processing apparatus 10B according to the present embodiment)
Next, the configuration of the second processing apparatus 10B according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the second processing apparatus 10B according to this embodiment.

  In the following, the arrow F direction in the figure is the front of the second processing apparatus 10B, and the opposite side (the arrow B direction) is the rear of the second processing apparatus 10B, toward the front side of the second processing apparatus 10B. The right side (arrow R direction) is the right side of the second processing apparatus 10B, and the left side (arrow L direction) toward the front side of the second processing apparatus 10B is the left side of the second processing apparatus 10B. In addition, since these directions in the second processing apparatus 10B are determined for convenience of explanation, the left-right direction and the front-rear direction in the second processing apparatus 10B are not limited to these directions.

  The front side of the second processing apparatus 10B is a side on which various operations of the image forming apparatus 10 are performed, for example, a side on which an operation unit 15 (see FIG. 2) for operating the image forming apparatus 10 is disposed. This is the side from which the recording medium storage 48 (see FIG. 1) in the first processing apparatus 10A is pulled out.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second processing apparatus 10 </ b> B according to the present embodiment includes a first housing 302 that forms a second processing apparatus main body (an example of an image forming apparatus main body), and a second body formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. And a power supply device 303 including a housing 304. In FIG. 4, the second processing apparatus 10 </ b> B is illustrated in a state in which components disposed inside the first housing 302 are omitted and a part of the exterior cover is removed.

  In the second housing 304, the power circuit board 23 (see FIGS. 1 and 9) for adjusting the power supplied to each part of the image forming apparatus 10 to the power required by each part and the above-described image. A processing substrate 13 (see FIGS. 1 and 8) is accommodated.

  The second casing 304 is placed on the upper surface 302A (see FIG. 5) of the first casing 302 and is fixed to the first casing 302 by a bracket 312 as an example of a fixing member. Note that the second housing 304 is slidable along the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302 in a state of being placed on the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302 when the bracket 312 is not fixed. The

  On the other hand, the first housing 302 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which an area on which the second housing 304 is placed is formed with a protruding portion 305 that protrudes upward.

  By the way, when the image forming apparatus 10 is shipped, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the second processing apparatus 10 </ b> B, the first housing 302 and the power supply device 303 are separately wrapped by the packaging material 450. As shown in FIG. 7, they are packed separately and delivered to the installation site. Then, the second processing apparatus 10B is assembled at the installation destination of the image forming apparatus 10. In this assembly, after the second housing 304 of the power supply device 303 is placed on the first housing 302, the second housing 304 is positioned with respect to the first housing 302, and the second housing 304 is moved to the first housing 302. This is done by being fixed to the body 302.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the second housing 304 is formed with a plurality of holding portions 310 held by an operator when the second housing 304 is placed on the first housing 302 at the installation destination. ing.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the holding portion 310 is formed at the center in the vertical direction on the right side surface of the second housing 304, and on the front side of the second housing 304, It is formed at the center of the direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the holding portion 310 is formed in the vertical center portion on the left side surface of the second housing 304, and the bottom plate 304 </ b> A and the vertical center portion are provided on the rear surface side of the second housing 304. Is formed. The holding portion 310 is designed so that the operator's hand can be inserted therein, and the corner portion where the operator's hand contacts is rounded. The weight (mass) of the second housing 304 is, for example, 55 kg or more, and is heavy enough to be lifted by a plurality of workers.

  A pair of frames 314 arranged on the right and left sides of the second housing 304 is inserted with the tip of the suspension 410A of the lift 410 (see FIG. 10) as shown in FIGS. Insertion holes 316 are respectively formed. Thus, the second housing 304 is configured to be suspended by the lift 410 and placed on the first housing 302 as shown in FIG. Note that the lifting operation of the second housing 304 by the lift 410 is performed in a factory before the image forming apparatus 10 is shipped, for example.

  Here, a positioning structure for positioning the second housing 304 with respect to the first housing 302 will be described. FIGS. 11-17 is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the positioning structure. For convenience of explanation, in FIGS. 11 to 13, only the bottom plate 304 </ b> A is shown in the second housing 304.

  As shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, the bottom plate 304 </ b> A constituting the bottom surface of the second housing 304 has a pair of positioning holes for positioning the second housing 304 with respect to the first housing 302. 306 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 13, one pair of positioning holes 306 is formed on the front side of the bottom plate 304A, and the other is formed on the rear side of the bottom plate 304A. Further, the pair of positioning holes 306 are formed so as to be biased forward as a whole. That is, the distance from the rear end of the second housing 304 to the rear positioning hole 306 is longer than the distance from the front end of the second housing 304 to the front positioning hole 306.

  Each positioning hole 306 extends along the left-right direction and has a length in the left-right direction. A restricting portion (an example of a positioning portion) 306A that contacts the pin 308 from the front and the back and restricts the movement of the pin 308 in the front and rear direction is formed on one end side in the length direction of each positioning hole 306 (left portion in FIG. 13). Has been.

  An introduction portion 306B for guiding the pin 308 to the restriction portion 306A is formed on the right side of the restriction portion 306A. The introduction portion 306B is wider in the front-rear direction than the restriction portion 306A, and the width in the front-rear direction is gradually narrower toward the introduction portion 306B at the connection portion with the restriction portion 306A.

  On the other hand, on the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302, as shown in FIG. 14, a pair of pins 308 as an example of a protruding portion that protrudes upward from the upper surface 302A so as to be inserted into the positioning hole 306 is formed. . One of the pair of pins 308 is formed on the front side of the upper surface 302A and the other is formed on the rear side of the upper surface 302A corresponding to the positioning hole 306. The pair of pins 308 are formed on the left side of the center in the left-right direction of the upper surface 302A.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, the second housing 304 is placed on the upper surface 302A in a state of being shifted to the left with respect to the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302, thereby making a pair as shown in FIG. The pin 308 is inserted into the positioning hole 306. After the pin 308 is inserted into the introduction portion 306B of the positioning hole 306, when the second housing 304 is slid to the right side, the pin 308 is guided to the positioning position in the positioning hole 306, that is, the regulating portion 306A. As shown in FIG. 12, the movement of the front-rear direction intersecting the guide direction is restricted by the restricting portion 306A, and the second housing 304 is positioned.

In this way, since the pin 308 is inserted into the introduction portion 306B having a width wider than that of the restriction portion 306A, the second portion 306B is compared with the case where the introduction portion 306B is formed with the same width as the restriction portion 306A. Since the positional deviation of the second casing 304 when mounting the casing 304 is allowed, the mounting operation becomes easy. In addition, the operator stands on the left side of the first casing 302 and lifts the second casing 304 and pushes the second casing 304 to the back side (right side of the first casing 302) as viewed from the operator. When positioning, the pin 308 is formed on the near side as viewed from the operator, so that even when the second housing 304 is lifted, the pin 308 is easier to find than when the pin 308 is at the center or the back side. . Therefore, the mounting operation when mounting the second housing 304 on the first housing 302 is facilitated as compared with the case where the pin 308 is at the center or the back side.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, when the pin 308 contacts the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304 without being inserted into the positioning hole 306, the bottom plate 304A to which the contact pressure acts from the pin 308 is moved upward. The peripheral edge portion 318 of the bottom plate 304A is set to a height that maintains the posture along the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302. That is, even if the bottom plate 304A of the second casing 304 is deformed in contact with the pin 308, the deformation does not reach the plastic region, and can be suppressed to deformation within the elastic region.

(Operation of the second processing apparatus 10B according to the present embodiment)
Next, as an operation of the second processing apparatus 10B according to the present embodiment, an assembly operation of the second processing apparatus 10B will be described.

  When assembling the second processing apparatus 10B, first, an operator inserts his / her hand into the holding portion 310 to lift the second casing 304, or the second casing 304 is lifted using the lift 410 (see FIG. 10). As shown in FIG. 15, the second housing 304 is placed on the upper surface 302 </ b> A of the first housing 302 while being shifted to the left with respect to the upper surface 302 </ b> A of the first housing 302.

  As a result, the pin 308 of the first housing 302 is inserted into the introduction portion 306B of the positioning hole 306 formed in the second housing 304.

  Next, when the second housing 304 is slid to the right along the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302 with the pin 308 inserted in the introduction portion 306B, the pin 308 becomes the regulating portion 306A of the positioning hole 306. Led to.

  When the pin 308 is positioned at the restricting portion 306A (positioning position), the second casing 304 is positioned by restricting movement in the front-rear direction. Then, the second housing 304 and the first housing 302 are fixed via the bracket 312, and the second processing apparatus 10B is assembled.

  Here, when the second housing 304 is placed on the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302, when the pin 308 contacts the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304 without being inserted into the positioning hole 306, FIG. As shown in FIG. 16A, the bottom plate 304A to which the contact pressure from the pin 308 acts is elastically deformed upward, and the peripheral portion 318 of the bottom plate 304A maintains the posture along the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302. .

  That is, the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304 is not inclined with respect to the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302, and the state in which the second housing 304 is slidable along the upper surface 302A of the first housing 302 is maintained. The

  Then, the operator slides the second casing 304 along the upper surface 302A of the first casing 302 while searching for the position where the pin 308 is inserted into the introduction portion 306B of the positioning hole 306, whereby FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, the bottom plate 304A is restored, and the pin 308 is inserted into the introduction portion 306B of the positioning hole 306.

  Thus, even when the pin 308 is not necessarily inserted into the positioning hole 306 when the second housing 304 is placed on the first housing 302, the second housing 304 is further moved from the non-inserted state to the first housing 304. By sliding the housing 302, the pin 308 is inserted into the positioning hole 306, so that it is not necessary to visually check the insertion state where the pin 308 is inserted into the positioning hole 306.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16, for example, when the pin 308 is not inserted into the positioning hole 306 and contacts the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304, the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304 is the first In the configuration in which the housing 302 is inclined with respect to the upper surface 302A, the pin 308 is easily damaged because the load on the pin 308 is large, and the pin 308 is caught on the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304, 304 cannot be slid along the upper surface 302 </ b> A of the first housing 302.

  Further, when the pin 308 comes into contact with the bottom plate 304A of the second housing 304 and the bottom plate 304A is plastically deformed upward, the positioning hole 306 formed in the bottom plate 304A is also deformed or the positioning hole 306 with respect to the pin 308 is deformed. The direction will change, and the movement of the pin 308 cannot be restricted.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications, changes, and improvements can be made.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 302 1st housing | casing 304 2nd housing | casing 306 Positioning hole 306A Control part (an example of a positioning part)
308 pin (example of protrusion)

Claims (2)

A first housing;
A second housing placed on an upper surface of the first housing and containing a circuit board;
A protrusion protruding upward from the upper surface of the first housing;
The bottom plate of the housing is formed to have a length in one direction, the projecting portion can be inserted, the positioning portion on one end side in the length direction contacts the projecting portion, and the second housing A positioning hole for positioning the second housing relative to the first housing by restricting movement;
Have
The protrusion has a height that allows the bottom plate to elastically deform upward when the bottom plate comes into contact with the bottom plate without being inserted into the positioning hole, and that the peripheral portion of the bottom plate maintains a posture along the top surface of the second housing. An image forming apparatus. The second housing is moved along the length direction of the positioning hole on the upper surface of the first housing so that the protrusion inserted into the positioning hole moves relative to the positioning portion. The positioning of the second housing by the positioning hole is made,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion is formed on the upper surface of the first casing on the upstream side in the movement direction from the center in the direction along the movement direction of the second casing. .

Images